←back to thread

Harper – an open-source alternative to Grammarly

(writewithharper.com)
645 points ReadCarlBarks | 3 comments | 20 Jun 25 19:51 UTC | HN request time: 0.867s | source
Show context
pram ◴[20 Jun 25 22:20 UTC] No.44332656[source]▶
IMO not using LLMs is a big plus in my book. Grammarly has been going downhill since they've been larding it with "AI features," it has become remarkably inconsistent. It will tell me to remove a comma one hour, and then tell me to add it back the next.
replies(8): >>44333107 #>>44333469 #>>44333551 #>>44334925 #>>44335818 #>>44336321 #>>44336504 #>>44337473 #
1. raincole ◴[20 Jun 25 23:33 UTC] No.44333107[source]▶
So is there a similar tool but based on an LLM?

Not that I think LLM is always better, but it would be interesting to compare these two approaches.

replies(2): >>44333434 #>>44335702 #
2. 7thaccount ◴[21 Jun 25 00:30 UTC] No.44333434[source]▶
Grammarly came out before the LLMs. I'm not sure what approach it took, but they're likely feeling a squeeze as LLMs can tell you how to rewrite a sentence to remove passive voice and all that. I doubt the LLMs are as consistent (some comments below show some big issues), but they're free (for now).
3. mannycalavera42 ◴[21 Jun 25 08:19 UTC] No.44335702[source]▶
Grammarly is (was) written in Common LISP https://www.grammarly.com/blog/engineering/running-lisp-in-p...

Given LISP was supposed to build "The AI" ... pretty sad than a dumb LLM is taking its place now